Max Shafer is a commercial litigator who advises business owners and entrepreneurs in high-stakes disputes-often when ownership, control, or the future of the business is on the line. Whether the issue involves broken promises, financial misrepresentations, or post-closing disputes that threaten the value of an acquisition, Max guides clients through resolving matters efficiently-both in and out of court.
Max advises clients in disputes litigated in North Carolina state and federal courts, including the North Carolina Business Court . He focuses his practice on business ownership disputes and post-acquisition litigation arising from closely held and lower-middle-market transactions.
Business and Ownership Disputes
Max regularly advises businesses as they navigate complicated disputes, including breaches of contract, fraud, breach of warranty, and unfair or deceptive trade practices.
Frequently, the most difficult disputes business owners encounter are not from outside the business, but between partners and co-owners when trust has broken down, and business decisions can no longer be made unanimously or informally. These disputes present uniquely complex and high-risk challenges. Max regularly guides clients through these disputes, whether the goal is preserving value, contesting illegitimate ownership claims, or executing a strategic exit.
Max also advises companies and employees in disputes arising from employment agreements, with a particular focus on non-competes, non-solicitation, and trade secrets .
He advises franchisees in disputes over franchise agreements and franchise disclosure documents to make sure that franchisors are holding up their end of the deal.
Max frequently represents partners and co-owners after trust has broken down-when decisions stall, access to financial information is restricted, or one owner attempts to force an exit on unfavorable terms.
Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition, Search Fund, and M&A Litigation
Entrepreneurship through acquisition presents exciting opportunities for both buyers on the path to business ownership and sellers looking for their next challenge. Max represents buyers and sellers in post-acquisition litigation, particularly when issues arise after closing that were never modeled-such as earnout disputes, indemnity claims, or alleged misrepresentations in financial disclosures.
Max advises new entrepreneurs who have invested their personal savings, as well as long-time owners facing retirement-level stakes. He helps clients assess not only the legal merits of post-closing claims, but also the practical and financial implications of pursuing-or defending-those claims in litigation. Max approaches post-acquisition disputes with a focus on leverage, credibility, and outcome-driven strategy, whether through negotiated resolution or litigation.
Many of these disputes arise in closely held acquisitions where diligence was constrained by time, access, or trust-conditions common in search fund and lower-middle-market transactions.
Construction and Collections
Max also represents contractors and professional services companies in payment disputes, lien claims, and related construction litigation. He approaches these matters with a focus on efficiency, cash-flow protection, and preserving valuable business relationships where possible.
Max uses his insight from representing clients in litigation to inform his representation of clients outside the courtroom. Max performs a variety of contract drafting assignments for clients regularly, including commercial lease reviews.
Outside the Courtroom
Max has written on behalf of a state-wide contractor association as amicus counsel before the North Carolina Supreme Court. He also regularly writes amicus briefs on behalf of religious freedom advocates in the Federal appellate courts and in the United States Supreme Court.
He’s a member of the Board of Directors of Porters Neck Village and serves on the Governance Committee and the Living Well Committee, where he advises on how developments in aging-in-place technology can be integrated into the resident experience.
In his spare time, Max and his wife, Gracie, spend time at Wrightsville Beach and with their dog River. He teaches a Sunday school class at Trinity United Methodist Church.
While studying for the bar, he interned with a technology start-up, where he oversaw determining the market value of the company’s intellectual property assets.
His representative matters include:
•Represented general contractor in payment dispute with owners regarding distressed commercial development.
•Represented national equipment rental company in numerous payment disputes, often through the pursuit of mechanics liens.
•Represented buyer of business in suit over negligently prepared financial statements.
•Represented buyers of commercial service provider over fraudulent representations of seller.
•Represented architecture company over more than $1,000,000 in unpaid fees.
•Filed amicus brief on behalf of contractors association with the North Carolina Supreme Court.
•Represented international alternative asset manager in dispute regarding restrictive covenants.
•Represented small business from inquiry by North Carolina Department of Justice.
•Represented national online retailer in dispute with former employees over stolen trade secrets, violations of non-competition covenants, and violations non-solicitation covenants.
Cases or matters referenced do not represent the lawyer’s entire record. Each case is unique and must be evaluated on its own merits. The outcome of a particular case cannot be predicated upon a lawyer’s or a law firm’s past results.
Most Recent Posts
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North Carolina Business Court Rule 7: A Strategic Guide and Checklist for Business Court Motions Practice
Practicing in the North Carolina Business Court requires more than simply following the Rules of Civil Procedure. Once a case...
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Business Court Update: Profit Sharing Alone Doesn’t Create a Partnership
Last month, the North Carolina Business Court examined whether an agreement to share the profits created a partnership, a joint...
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What Is (and Is Not) a Trade Secret? Separating Real Secrets from Routine Information
A hotly contested issue in many trade secrets cases is whether the alleged trade secret even qualifies as a trade...
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Business Court Update: North Carolina Courts Can Reach Out-of-State Executives
Last week, the North Carolina Business Court denied a motion to dismiss, stating that it could exercise personal jurisdiction over...
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North Carolina Business Court Update: Noncompete and Trade Secret Claims Dismissed
The North Carolina Business Court’s recent decision in Box Company of America, LLC v. Bostick, 2025 NCBC 75, reinforces two...
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Business Court Update: Business Court Allows LLC Fiduciary Duty Waiver
On November 25, 2025, the North Carolina Business Court issued an opinion in Estevez v. C&S Commerce, LLC, 2025 NCBC...
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When Does Your Case Belong in the NC Business Court? A Guide to Designations
Recently, we covered some changes to the cases that the Business Court takes on. Given those changes, it seems like...
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Max Shafer Appointed to Porters Neck Village Board
Max Shafer has been appointed to serve on the Board of Directors for Porters Neck Village, a growing retirement community in Wilmington, N.C. His term begins in January 2026 and continues through December 2028...
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North Carolina Business Court Update: Significant Changes to North Carolina Business Court Designation Rules Effective December 1, 2025
Businesses that face complex disputes in North Carolina should prepare for significant changes to the Business Court designation process starting...
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Navigating Indemnity in Business Acquisitions: Protecting Your Deal from Post-Closing Liabilities
You closed the deal. Whether you’re a new entrepreneur acquiring your first business or you’re expanding the services and capacity...
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North Carolina Business Court Weighs in on Business Breakups and Fiduciary Claims
The North Carolina Business Court recently issued an opinion in Carolina Medical Partners, PLLC v. Shah. The case involves a...
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Cranfill Sumner Staffs Pro Bono Empower Hour
Cranfill Sumner LLP attorneys and summer clerks volunteered for the North Carolina Bar Foundation pro bono clinic the Empower Hour on June 3. ...
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Kickbacks and Causation: Supreme Court Could Soon Settle the Question of Anti-Kickback Statute and False Claims Act Causation Requirements
A decision by the First Circuit Court of Appeals has deepened the legal debate surrounding False Claims Act (FCA) actions...
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After {em}Jarkesy{/em}, What Is Next for In-House Enforcement Proceedings?
Much virtual ink has been spilled in the weeks and months since the Supreme Court issued its opinion in Securities...
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Maxwell Shafer Joins Cranfill Sumner LLP
Cranfill Sumner LLP today announced that Maxwell Shafer has joined the firm’s Wilmington office as an associate attorney. He focuses his practice in the civil litigation practice group handling admiralty and construction law matters...
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